John 4:12
What does John 4:12 mean?
A plain-English look at John 4:12 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What John 4:12 means
The woman further grounds her understanding in the physical and historical, invoking their ancestor Jacob who provided the well. She questions whether Jesus considers Himself superior to Jacob, who, along with his family and livestock, drank from this very well. This appeal to ancestral authority and tangible provision demonstrates her reliance on tradition and material blessings, again missing the deeper spiritual implication of Jesus’ statements. Her challenge allows Jesus to contrast temporal provisions with eternal.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle?
KJV
King James Version · 1611Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle?
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the fountain and took the water of it himself, with his children and his cattle?
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who did give us the well, and himself out of it did drink, and his sons, and his cattle?'
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank thereof, himself and his children and his cattle?
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?
Context
This verse continues the Samaritan woman's resistance to Jesus' spiritual metaphors, focusing on the historical significance of Jacob's well. It follows immediately after her physical assessment of Jesus' inability to draw water (verse 11). By bringing up Jacob, she grounds the discussion in a shared but earthly heritage, setting the stage for Jesus to unmistakably differentiate the temporary satisfaction of physical water from the eternal life He offers.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Matthew 12:42
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
- John 8:53
Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died: whom makest thou thyself?
- Hebrews 3:3
For he hath been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by so much as he that built the house hath more honor than the house.
- John 4:6
and Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
- Isaiah 53:2
For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
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